The Denver Nuggets are off to their first 2-0 series advantage since the conference semifinals of 1985. Chauncey Billups has been playing out of his mind, scoring 36 in game 1, 31 in game 2 while going 12-15 from downtown and dishing out 12 assists and 0 turnovers. Yes, 0 turnovers. You can tell he wants to win and win bad. He also played great defense on Chris Paul when he was on him.

The addition of Chauncey to this team has transformed it to one of the most entertaining teams in the league. You've got JR Smith nailing 3 pointers, Carmelo playing the best defense and offense of his life, dishing out a career playoff high of 9 assists last night. He's no longer trying to force shots and it's paying off for him and his teammates who are getting easy looks when he draws the double.

When you take that and the fact that the Nuggets are playing their best team defense in years, this looks to be a good year to make some noise in the postseason and give the city of Denver something to cheer for after 5 straight first round exits. If the Nuggets play the way they did in games 1 and 2, this should be a sweep and then they can get some rest heading into the second round as it seems almost inevitable that Dallas and San Antonio are going to go 6 or 7 games. The Nuggets won the season series agains the Spurs 2-1 and against the Mavericks 4-0 so they have the path they want to get to the Lakers. Now lets see if they can stay on that path.

They absolutely should be able to, JR Smith is playing with more poise and maturity, Dahntay Jones is playing great defense, Kenyon Martin is hounding David West and Chris Birdman Andersen is bringing energy every time he steps on the court. Combine that with the smooth steady play of Chauncey and the newly mature and team first Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets will go deep. The question is how far.

Last night I was observing the Nuggets-Hornets game. It was an amazing game until the fourth quarter when the Nuggets basically gave it away. It was fun to watch. It had all of the ingredients for a playoff match up. Great crowd, both teams playing with intensity and passion. This could end up being a second round match up in the playoffs if the Nuggets win the northwest and the Hornets win the southwest.

But on to my point for this article. Is Chris Paul dirty?? His talent is almost unmatchable at the point position, but does he get away with a lot of stuff. Yes.

Every time I saw Paul drive to the rim and step back to take a jumper he would extend his forearm knocking the defensive player out of position giving him an open shot. On top of that, the ref only helped this by sometimes calling a foul on the defensive player with replay showing that there was no contact from the defensive side.

Then there's his post move, he'll post up and hook his arm around the backside of the defender to get around. Again almost never called against him but called against his defender instead. Is it his talent and the respect he has earned that keeps these from being called offensive fouls? Don't get me wrong, it's not always blatantly obvious that it's an offensive foul, but in that case shouldn't it just be a no call. It seems like the ref is unsure every time this happens so he gives the benefit of the doubt to Paul and calls it against the defender.

In last nights game, there was one play in particular where Paul was at the top of the circle, he got a pick set for him and Nene had to rotate over to cover him. Paul did his usual shaking and baking and extended his forearm to create space, a foul was called on Nene. The replay showed Nene with his hands straight up in the air and not once did he even lay a finger on CP3. Still the foul was given to Nene.

So I guess my real question is, do superstars get the benefit of calls because of their reputation? I see it that way and it shouldn't be that way. It makes it unfair to the role players who work hard and never get the benefit of the doubt.

This is not an attack on Chris Paul. I can agree he is the BEST PG in the NBA hands down. But does he get away with some calls here and there. Absolutely.